The SPSSI awards recognize teaching excellence in both undergraduate and graduate programs and honor individuals who have made substantial contributions in the psychological study of social issues. To be eligible, individuals must have been teaching and/or mentoring students for at least 10 years.

A social psychologist with particular interests in understandings of justice and silence, Cohen is coauthor of the book Political Attitudes Over the Life Span: The Bennington Women After Fifty Years, and editor of three books on justice. His articles have been published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, Journal of Social and Personal Relations, Human Relations, Human Rights Review, and Social Justice Research.

Cohen has taught at Bennington since 1971 (with a brief interruption in 1993–94). He has also served as Dean of Studies (1973–76) and Dean of Faculty (1985–91).